French president, first lady separate

Paris: French President Francois Hollande announced his separation from first lady Valerie Trierweiler yesterday following a media storm over allegations he is having an affair with an actress.

“I wish to make it known that I have ended my partnership with Valerie Trierweiler,” he told the state-backed Agence France Presse news agency.

Hollande sought to put an end to turbulence that began two weeks ago when celebrity magazine Closer published a report that he was having an affair with film actress and Socialist Party supporter Julie Gayet.

Questions over Hollande’s personal life — and whether Trierweiler was still first lady — have diverted public attention from a shift the president made this month towards more business-friendly policies aimed at reviving the euro zone’s second-biggest economy in the face of high unemployment.

A press conference to unveil the economic plans was overshadowed by questions over Hollande’s private life, as was a trip to Rome to meet the pope on Friday.

Announcing the separation, Hollande said he was speaking as an individual and not as head of state since it concerned his private life. Trierweiler, a 48-year old arts columnist for weekly magazine Paris Match, was not married to Hollande but they had been together since 2006. She assumed the role of first lady at official functions following his election in May 2012. Trierweiler did not immediately respond to the announcement, but planned to travel to India today for a charity trip.

French media reports said Trierweiler, who was hospitalised for eight days for fatigue after news of the affair broke, may speak at a press conference in India today.

Hollande, 59, is the most unpopular president in modern France, according to polls. He has struggled to live up to a promise to get unemployment, currently stuck near 11 percent, firmly on a downward trend. He has four children from a previous relationship with Segolene Royal, a senior member of his Socialist Party and a 2007 presidential candidate. Royal announced their separation just after she lost the 2007 election to Nicolas Sarkozy. REUTERS